Waisman Center Office: T-225
Phone: 608.265.8189
Email: rjdavids@wisc.edu
Administrative Assistant: Susan Jensen
Director, Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience
Director, Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging & Behavior
Research in my laboratories is focused on cortical and subcortical substrates of emotion and affective disorders, including depression and anxiety. We study normal adults and young children, and those with, or at risk for, affective and anxiety disorders. We use quantitative electrophysiology, positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging to make inferences about patterns of regional brain function. A major focus of our current work is on interactions between prefrontal cortex and the amygdala in the regulation of emotion in both normal subjects and patients with affective and anxiety disorders.
Series in Affective Science
Richard J. Davidson, Paul Ekman, Klaus R. Scherer, Editors
Emotion
Richard J. Davidson and Klaus R. Scherer, Founding Editors
Slagter, H. A., Lutz, A., Greischar, L. L., Francis, A. D., Nieuwenhuis, S., Davis, J. M. & Davidson, R. J. (2007). Mental training affects use of limited brain resources. PLoS Biology 5(6), e138 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050138.
van Reekum, C. M., Urry, H. L., Johnstone, T., Thurow, M. E., Frye, C. J., Jackson, C. A., Schaefer, H. S., Alexander, A. L., & Davidson, R. J. (2007). Individual differences in amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex activity are associated with evaluation speed and psychological well-being. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 19, 237-248.
Coan, J. A., Schaefer, H. S. & Davidson, R. J. (2006). Lending a hand: Social regulation of the neural response to threat. Psychological Science, 17(12) 1032-1039.
Johnstone, T., Ores Walsh, K. S., Greischar, L. L., Alexander, A. L., Fox, A. S., Davidson, R. J., & Oakes, T. R. (2006). Motion correction and the use of motion covariates in multiple-subject fMRI analysis. Human Brain Mapping 27(10), 779-788.
Nacewicz, B.M., Dalton, K.M., Johnstone, T., Long, M., McAuliff, E.M.,
Oakes, T.R., Alexander, A.L. & Davidson, R.J. (2006) Amygdala volume
and nonverbal social impairment in adolescent and adult males with
autism. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 1417-28.
Nitschke, J. B., Dixon, G. E., Sarinopoulos, I., Short, S. J., Cohen, J. D., Smith, E. E., Kosslyn, S. M., Rose, R. M., & Davidson, R. J. (2006). Altering expectancy dampens neural response to aversive taste in primary taste cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 9(3):435-42.
Urry, H. L., van Reekum, C. M., Johnstone, T., Kalin, N. H., Thurow, M.
E., Schaefer, H. S., Jackson, C. A., Frye, C. J., Greischar, L. L.,
Alexander, A. L., & Davidson, R. J. (2006). Amygdala and
ventromedial prefrontal cortex are inversely coupled during regulation
of negative affect and predict the diurnal pattern of cortisol secretion
among older adults. Journal of Neuroscience, 26, 4415-4425.
Dalton KM, Nacewicz BM, Johnstone T, Schaefer HS, Gernsbacher MA, Goldsmith HH, Alexander AL, Davidson RJ. (2005) Gaze fixation and the neural circuitry of face processing in autism. Nature Neuroscience. 8, 519-526
Lutz A, Greischar LL, Rawlings NB, Ricard M, Davidson RJ. (2004) Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 101:16369-73
Davidson RJ. (2004) Well-being and affective style: neural substrates and biobehavioural correlates. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (London). 359:1395-411
Salomons TV, Johnstone T, Backonja MM, Davidson RJ. (2004) Perceived controllability modulates the neural response to pain. Journal of Neuroscience. 24:7199-203.
Urry HL, Nitschke JB, Dolski I, Jackson DC, Dalton KM, Mueller CJ, Rosenkranz MA, Ryff CD, Singer BH, Davidson RJ. (2004) Making a life worth living: neural correlates of well-being. Psychological Science. 15:367-72.
Wager TD, Rilling JK, Smith EE, Sokolik A, Casey KL, Davidson RJ, Kosslyn SM, Rose RM, Cohen JD. (2004) Placebo-induced changes in FMRI in the anticipation and experience of pain. Science. 303:1162-7.
Rosenkranz MA, Jackson DC, Dalton KM, Dolski I, Ryff CD, Singer BH, Muller D, Kalin NH, Davidson RJ. (2003) Affective style and in vivo immune response: neurobehavioral mechanisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 100:11148-52.
Visions of Compassion: Western scientists and Tibetan Buddhists examine human nature (2002). New York: Oxford University Press.
Davidson, R. J., Pizzagalli, D., Nitschke, J. B., & Putnam, K. M. (2002). Depression: Perspectives from affective neuroscience. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 545-574.
Davidson, R. J. (2001). The neural circuitry of emotion and affective style: Prefrontal cortex and amygdala contributions. Social Science Information, 40.
Davidson, R. J. (2001). Toward a biology of personality and emotion. Ann.N.Y.Acad.Sci., 935, 191-207.
Kalin, N. H., Shelton, S. E., Davidson, R. J., & Kelley, A. E. (2001).The primate amygdala mediates acute fear but not the behavioral and physiological components of anxious temperament. Journal of Neuroscience, 21, 2067-2074.
Pizzagalli, D., Pascual-Marqui, R. D., Nitschke, J. B., Oakes, T. R., Larson, C.L., Abercrombie, H. C., Schaefer, S. M., Koger, J. V., Benca, R. M., & Davidson, R. J. (2001). Anterior cingulate activity as a predictor of degree of treatment response in major depression: evidence from brain electrical tomography analysis. Am.J Psychiatry, 158, 405-415.
Davidson, R.J., Putnam, K.M. & Larson, C.L. (2000). Dysfunction in the neural circuitry of emotion regulation-A possible prelude to violence. Science, 289 591-594.
Davidson, R.J., Jackson,D.C. & Kalin,N.H.(2000). Emotion, plasticity, context and regulation: Perspectives from affective neuroscience. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 890-906.
Davidson, R.J. (2000). Affective style, psychopathology, and resilience: Brain mechanisms and plasticity. American Psychologist, 55, 1196-1214.
Davidson, R.J., Marshall, J.R., Tomarken, A.J. & Henriques, J.B. (2000). While a phobic waits: Regional brain electrical and autonomic activity in social phobics during anticipation of public speaking. Biological Psychiatry, 47, 85-95.
Davidson, R.J. & Irwin, W. (1999). The functional neuroanatomy of emotion and affective style. Trends in Cognitive Science, 3,11-21.
Davidson, R.J., Abercrombie, H.C., Nitschke, J. & Putnam, K. (1999). Regional brain function, emotion and disorders of emotion. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 9, 228-234.
Abercrombie, H.C., Schaefer, S.M., Larson, C.L., Oakes, T.R., Lindgren, K.A., Holden, J.E., Perlman, S.E., Turski, P.A., Krahn, D.D., Benca, R.M., & Davidson, R.J. (1998). Metabolic rate in the right amygdala predicts negative affect in depressed patients. NeuroReport, 9, 3301-3307.
Davidson, R.J. (1998). Affective style and affective disorders: Perspectives from affective neuroscience. Cognition and Emotion, 12, 307-330.
Sutton, S.K. & Davidson, R.J. (1997).Prefrontal brain asymmetry: A biological substrate of the behavioral approach and inhibition systems. Psychological Science, 8, 204-210.
Irwin, W., Davidson, R.J., Lowe, M.J., Mock, B.J., Sorenson, J.A. & Turski, P.A. (1996). Human amygdala activation detected with echo-planar functional magnetic resonance imaging. NeuroReport, 7, 1765-1769.
Davidson, R.J. & Sutton, S.K. (1995). Affective neuroscience: The emergence of a discipline. Special Cognitive Neuroscience issue for Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 5, 217-224.
Davidson, R.J. & Hughdahl, K. (Eds.) (1995). Brain asymmetry. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Tomarken, A.J., & Davidson, R.J. (1994). Frontal brain activation in repressors and nonrepressors. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 339-349.
Davidson, R.J. (1994). Asymmetric brain function, affective style and psychopathology: The role of early experience and plasticity. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 741-758.